You can check out the full patch notes here:
But the most interesting and impactful change of this patch has been given to the least popular area in all of Summoner’s Rift: top lane. The area closest to Baron has always been a bit of a wasteland, with tanks slapping each other for minimal damage for the first 15 minutes of a game. In past eras, Maokai and Dr.Mundo would exist in the top lane and teleport down to teammates as needed.
When the teleport summoner spell cooldown was increased, and hybrid-mages like Vladimir and the reworked Mordekaiser became popular, they were mostly relegated to the top lane. The elemental drakes were added at the start of Season 10, and top lane became even less important. Jungle pressure focusing on bot and mid lane to secure dragons became paramount to victory, with Rift Herald in the Baron pit being considered a secondary objective. With all these changes in mind, one started to wonder what purpose the top lane served at all.
Some thrifty players decided to turn top lane into a second support, and used a “funnel” strategy to get their Jungler even stronger. Taking a Sona or Soraka in the top lane with Spellthief’s Edge allowed your team even more utility. These two champions don’t require that much currency to be successful, and the 15 gold they generate with each proc on Spellthief’s inlane is plenty enough. Teams could then give their top lane CS to to the Jungler, allowing their Karthus or Rek’Sai to be even stronger when they ganked mid or bottom lane.
This strategy is pretty frustrating to play against. In top lane, these pseudo-supports just freeze the minions in lane and poke for gold generation. As the game goes on, team fighting becomes harder because of the amount of heals getting pumped out. Riot Games hasn’t been a fan of this powerful strategy and has since decided to change it.
In patch 10.5, Spellthief’s Edge now requires another champion to be nearby for it to generate gold. Now, Sona or Soraka won’t be able to take it to the top lane to accrue money. On top of that, turret plates now grant more gold, and melee champions deal more damage against them. Riot likely hopes this incentivizes bruisers like Darius or Garen to head back top.
This change is a welcome one for someone who plays a lot of Mordekaiser top. The support top-laner required lots of team coordination but was absolutely brutal when it worked. Top lane will continue to be an island, but at least it will be a less frustrating one after update 10.5.
